CLEP or AP Spanish?

[smdgl]

Hello all,

My daughter has had 3 years of Spanish in our homeschool. She took the REA practice test and got a scaled score of 76 (raw: 71/120).

Since she did so well on the CLEP practice, we're thinking of taking the AP Spanish test instead. Does anyone have experience with AP Spanish? I'd love to hear thoughts on which way to go.

Thanks!

Cherie

[KayV]

If she wants to try AP Spanish, she will gt more credit for attempting the AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam than she will the Language and Culture exam. Frankly, if she's not interested in Lit, I would stick with the CLEP.

(I am a HS math and foreign language teacher with 20+ years of experience, FWIW.)

[smdgl]

Thank you!

[cookderosa]

Hello all,

My daughter has had 3 years of Spanish in our homeschool. She took the REA practice test and got a scaled score of 76 (raw: 71/120).

Since she did so well on the CLEP practice, we're thinking of taking the AP Spanish test instead. Does anyone have experience with AP Spanish? I'd love to hear thoughts on which way to go.

Thanks!

Cherie

all colleges choose for themselves how many credits (if any) are awarded and for which exams. There are recommended charts based on scores, but there are no sure fire promises that one exam awards more than another. Both AP and CLEP are College Board brand tests, there are others, but those are both widely accepted.

When deciding between the 2 brands, I think there are a few things you have to ask. Start here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/homeschoo...6033362128

I would also that it is not automatic that one AP exam is worth more than another, that's not really true. It's based on score and college decision. In my opinion, on straight credit, her best chance for the MOST is going to be a high score on the CLEP. Most schools award 12 credits, while not all schools award 12 credits for even a perfect score on any of the AP exams. Of course if you have a handful of schools your daughter is considering, the best advice is to simply go to their websites and check their credit equivalency.

If she's headed to a competitive college/university, 100% take the AP instead. HOWEVER, if she doesn't want to wait until March or doesn't score at least a 3, she can take the CLEP anytime.

If she's headed to the big 3, there are exams worth even more credit than CLEP or AP, but in every other situation CLEP/AP are the better brands.

This is my former employer, and a perfect example. They only award 8 credits for a score of 3 or better on the Spanish Language exam, while a score of 66 on the CLEP exam yields 14. They also don't accept the Spanish Literature exam at all. But since CC admission is open enrollment, and students are guaranteed transfer to Iowa universities across the state, there is no advantage to the AP over CLEP in that situation. http://www.eicc.edu/future-students/appl.../clep.aspx

Your situation will require your own assessment, but I'm happy to throw in 2 cents if you have a vague idea of what her goals are.

[sanantone]

It depends on her goals. Some very competitive schools don't accept CLEP at all while accepting AP (and SAT II tests for advanced standing). This is the order of most acceptance that I've seen.

regional accreditation
AP
CLEP
DSST
ACE
national accreditation
NCCRS
FEMA

[KayV]

They just realigned the AP sequences for World Languages, and a few things changed. The AP Spanish Lit and Culture exam is the one that is generally meant to be taken at the end of Spanish V. It is a very intensive exam with a huge reading list and it expects a high level of critical thinking and essay production.
https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcou...ading-list

Here in Texas, if you make a 3 on the AP Spanish Language exam, you get credit for 8 hours of Spanish (101 and 102), while a 5 gets you 11 hours (101, 102, 201). AP Spanish Literature, on the other hand, also gets you credit for SPAN 202 with a 3 and SPAN 320 with a 5. Thus a 5 on the AP Spanish Lit exam would give you a total of 17 hours of credit.

At least, that's what they told me at the AP teacher training this summer.

That said, the Spanish Language CLEP is a very expedient way of earning 12 or more credits.

[cookderosa]

They just realigned the AP sequences for World Languages, and a few things changed. The AP Spanish Lit and Culture exam is the one that is generally meant to be taken at the end of Spanish V. It is a very intensive exam with a huge reading list and it expects a high level of critical thinking and essay production.
https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcou...ading-list

Here in Texas, if you make a 3 on the AP Spanish Language exam, you get credit for 8 hours of Spanish (101 and 102), while a 5 gets you 11 hours (101, 102, 201). AP Spanish Literature, on the other hand, also gets you credit for SPAN 202 with a 3 and SPAN 320 with a 5. Thus a 5 on the AP Spanish Lit exam would give you a total of 17 hours of credit.

At least, that's what they told me at the AP teacher training this summer.

That said, the Spanish Language CLEP is a very expedient way of earning 12 or more credits.

This is good to know that you can get some UL credit with that one. Certainly worth checking out if you're headed to a 4 year school. A community college may not have the option of awarding credit beyond 200 level.